ACCA Congratulates More Than 8,000 New Affiliates

More students on the path to become ACCA members

HONG KONG, Aug. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Record numbers of students have successfully completed their final ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) exams in the June 2014 sitting, when 190,000 candidates took over 330,000 papers around the world.

Many students are also tackling exams online, with an additional 53,000 students sitting computer based exams.

The June 2014 session saw 8,325 students satisfy the exam component of their professional qualification, enabling them to take the next step to ACCA membership. Students also need to complete practical experience and ethics requirements to become ACCA members.

Overall pass rates rose to 43% for the ACCA Skills and Professional exams, largely due to improved performances in the Skills exams, while pass rates in the Professional Level remained steady.

At 52%, the results for Paper P1, Governance, Risk and Ethics, were pleasing. This exam assesses students using a range of case studies based on real world business scenarios. It requires students to demonstrate their competency in understanding and managing risks, as well as resolving ethical dilemmas.

As a result of completing their Fundamentals level, 8,744 students are now eligible for ACCA’s Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business on completion of their Professional Ethics module, one of the requirements for ACCA membership. The Advanced Diploma celebrates students’ achievement of the Fundamentals level before they move on to the Professional level and awards a professional certification equivalent in level to a bachelor honours degree.

The results for the Knowledge level of the ACCA exams (F1 to F3) and the equivalent exams in the Foundation Level have improved this session. This is very pleasing, given that the structure of the exams has now changed so that students must now complete multi-task questions which require students to tackle longer questions around one or more scenarios, thereby demonstrating their understanding of the issues.

In addition to new, free specimen exams, the launch of this new style exam was supported by practice tests which students can purchase. These tests are intended as final mock exam practice and in addition to providing a near identical exam experience, they provide user friendly feedback, enabling them to see their strengths and weaknesses and supporting them to target properly their final pre-exam revision.

Alan Hatfield, ACCA director – learning, said: "We would like to congratulate all students who have passed their examinations this session, particularly the record number of students who have passed their final level exams and are well on their way to becoming ACCA members. The exams within the Professional level represent a major challenge for students, being set at an equivalent level to a Masters degree.

"The pass rates across our Options papers continue to be a particular challenge and performance in Paper P5, Advanced Performance Management remains disappointing. As always, we see a greater number of students passing who have attended ACCA approved courses of study and have used our approved study materials, which are reviewed by our examining team. The poorer pass rate in Paper P5 is in part explained by our analysis which shows that fewer students accessed tuition for this paper than any other ACCA exam. As part of our ongoing activities to raise pass rates we are exploring new and innovative ways to provide students with additional learning support, focusing particularly on the Options papers," he added.

"We are delighted that 76% of employers agree that the ACCA Qualification helps them to grow business by providing accountants with the skills and capabilities they need. We continually respond to employer feedback and this year is an exciting year for changes to some of our exams as we act on further feedback. Employers have stated they wish to see greater breadth of syllabus covered in the Skills exams, ensuring thorough understanding of the F5 to F9 subject areas. New exam structures will reflect this from December, by introducing some multiple choice elements (20-40%) without losing the written, analytical skills it is necessary for students to develop. Additionally, to add greater flexibility, the F4 exams will also have a new format similar to the current F1 to F3, with the English and Global versions being available on demand through computer based examination from November," said Alan Hatfield.

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

We support our 170,000 members and 436,000 students in 180 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of 91 offices and centres and more than 8,500 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.

As the first global accountancy body entering into China, ACCA now has over 23,000 members and 48,000 students, with 8 offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR.

Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. We believe that accounting professionals bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business. We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers.